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Ukraine Forces Running Short on Vital Munitions; Biden Worried About Ukraine Aid Amid Republican Turmoil; Ugandan Opposition Leader Bobi Wine Arrested; Korean Companies Using AI to Craft the Perfect K- pop Stars. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 05, 2023 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR NEWSROOM: Hello and welcome to CNN "Newsroom". I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, Ukraine's President is meeting with European leaders right now seeking reassurance from allies in their continued support in the war in Ukraine.

This all comes on the heels of U.S. President Joe Biden expressing concern of republican infighting can hurt America's ongoing policies supporting Kyiv. And the singing, dancing wonder of the 11 strong K- pop bands excerpts this one key difference. We will tell you what that is.

Ukraine's President says Europe's biggest challenge will be to preserve its unity as he arrived in Spanish City of Grenada, Granada rather. Just hours ago, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is making an unannounced visit to a summit of European leaders, pushing for more military assistance amid the republican political turmoil in Washington.

Which, put continues U.S. aid for Ukraine in limbo. The Biden administration is already resorting to other plans. He has begun shipping seized Iranian ammunition to Ukraine. More confiscated equipment including weapons is set to follow as well. Nada joins now there is lot more going on here.

First of all take us through the meeting of European leaders, which lets us just turned up during the massive conversation that having to have there today.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, this was an unannounced visit, but it is really no surprise that President Zelenskyy is there. We have seen that renewed commitment from EU leaders this week. We saw EU Foreign Ministers visiting Kyiv holding the Foreign Affairs Council for the first time outside of EU premises.

And the focus of today's summit in Granada is really on that collective European security. And as we heard earlier in the week, Ukraine has become in the words of the EU, the heartbeat of the EU's focus when it comes to that collective security issue. We heard from Joseph Burrell, the EU High Commissioner describing Russia's aggression against Ukraine as an existential threat to Europe. Now, of course, the key focus collectively will be the security issues that the continent faces that Europe as a whole faces but for President Zelenskyy he has gone in with a clear agenda. He spoke with us this morning. In a statement he said that the key priorities he will be going in to this meeting with is focusing on gaining that support on reaffirming that support from -- particularly when it comes to air defenses.

And we know he has held meetings and talks on the sidelines of this summit. He spoke with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez about a new defense package which they asked to put forward, which will include crucially, both air defense systems and anti-drone systems.

But of course, a key topic, a key concern is funding. And we've heard from the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on proposals for long term funding now from the EU, take a listen.

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URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Here in the European Union, we are working on a package of 50 billion euros for Ukraine for the years 24 to 27. This is very important, because Ukraine needs predictability and reliability in the direct budget support.

As far as I oversee the situation in the United States, I'm very confident of support for Ukraine from the United States. What the United States is working on is the timing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: No -- talks about the timing there. That is what is critical here. President Zelenskyy so that his troops.

FOSTER: -- should be confident when no one in Washington even knows what's going on.

BASHIR: Well, exactly and President Biden himself has said he is worried that the disarray in Congress the disarray amongst the Republicans will have a severe impact on funding to Ukraine and on Ukraine counter offensive. So this is a huge concern. You mentioned that we've seen now the U.S. now supplying Ukraine with seized Iranian weapons.

FOSTER: Yes.

BASHIR: And there is a real sense of concern around the long term viability, the long term sustainability of this supply of weapons from Ukraine's NATO allies.

FOSTER: OK, we're going to go to CNN's Fred Pleitgen now because he's actually in Eastern Ukraine. I mean, what do you make of the language coming out from these European leaders very confident that the money is going to keep coming? And it's a very different type of language coming out from Washington, isn't it? FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there certainly is. And I can tell you one thing that the Ukrainians of course, Max, are extremely concerned about some of the things that they're hearing from Washington, especially if there would be any sort of delays in U.S. funding.

I think we had Ursula von der Leyen there say it's all a matter of time will the Ukrainians really say that they don't have very much time because they are already running very low on ammo and we saw that with frontline troops here's what we witnessed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The artillery troops need to move fast. Russian drones might be in the air, line up calibrate fire. Three rockets that's it, even though this grad launcher would be more effective firing large salvos. It's not very precise. The soldier named Alex says it also depends on the weather and the range it would be good to have more precise rockets or guided ones.

But the Ukrainians are running short on even these unguided Soviet era rockets and ammo shortages are a problem across the battlefield here in Eastern Ukraine. Soldiers from the ADF airborne Assault Brigade have a quick snack then get ready to fire their western donated howitzer.

The American 105 millimeter shells a valuable but increasingly scarce commodity.

PLEITGEN: The Ukrainians call this the sniper rifle of their artillery because it's so accurate but it also illustrates one of the big problems they have. They have plenty of barrels to fire from but not enough ammunition to fire.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Battery commander Myron telling me the lack of shells means his forces are badly outgunned here. It's hard to give precise numbers he says but I think they fire 10 times for every round we fire sometimes it's 1 to 100. The Russians are constantly taking aim at this area.

Though the Ukrainians say they're making gains pushing Vladimir Putin's army back even using combat helicopters close to the front line. Kyiv says it needs more ammo to sustain its offensives both here in the east and in the south. But the U.S. budget impasse could mean further delays.

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On top of that NATO is warning its members are running dangerously low themselves.

ADMIRAL ROB BAUER, NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE CHAIR: We started to give away from half full or lower warehouses in Europe, and therefore the bottom of the barrel is now visible

PLEITGEN (voice-over): For the Ukrainian artillery troops. That means rationing will probably continue all while trying to support their advancing soldiers on the ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (on camera): So as you can see there, Max, things actually going forward for the Ukrainians. However, they do say that lack of ammo and if there are delays from anything that the U.S. delivers could be a massive problem for them going forward, Max.

FOSTER: Fred Pleitgen, thank you. U.S. President, Joe Biden admits he's worried about the future of U.S.A. to Ukraine, the removal of Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. Let's put Ukraine on the back burner for Congress and Jim Jordan, one of the contenders for the Speaker's job, has been a critic of sending more money to Kyiv.

Biden says he'll set out the case for continuing to support Ukraine in a speech very soon.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It does worry me, and but I know there are a majority of members of the House and Senate and both parties who have said that they support funding Ukraine, but I don't think we should let them gamesmanship get in the way of blocking it.

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FOSTER: Let's go to CNN White House Reporter Priscilla Alvarez with more. Just give us a sense then of the likely contenders that are going to get this job and whether that really does make it more difficult for Ukraine to get this money from the U.S. in future.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The reality is that it does, and that's what the White House has to contend with moving forward when they knew and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that he did support Ukraine aid even if it wasn't included in that short term funding bill that was passed this past weekend.

Now, one of the contenders for the role of House Speaker is Jim Jordan, who said he's announcing to run or announced yesterday that he would run and that he would oppose any aid to Ukraine, while others may be more willing to pass that.

And so the White House is making it clear that this remains a priority not only domestically, and how they see this as an important role that the U.S. needs to play in supporting Ukraine, but also in providing reassurance to allies around the world that they will continue that support.

In fact, just this week, President Biden convened to call with allies to reassure them of support for Ukraine, even though the funding was not included in that bill over the weekend. But senior administration officials privately believe that there are enough funds for the weeks to come, but that eventually it could run out and that it could have battlefield effects. So the timeline here is also clear. We're looking at November 17, as when this funding bill runs until that point. And so the question remains as to whether there will be a House Speaker and if there is that a house speaker that would include Ukraine funding in the next funding bill and so all of these questions remain up in the air.

But President Biden made clear that he plans to give a speech on this matter, again, underscoring the importance of it. Officials say that no date has been set just yet. But it just goes to show that this remains a priority for the White House and one that they are going to be focused on in the weeks to come to shore up those funds, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Priscilla Alvarez, really appreciate that. Thank you. Now in Northeast India, the death toll from catastrophic flash flooding has risen to at least 14. More than 100 others are missing including dozens of members of the Indian Army. A major rescue operation has been launched but rescuers are up against continuing heavy rain.

And the floodwaters have washed away roads and bridges. Officials say the flooding has forced more than 2000 people out of their homes. Let's bringing CNN's Vedika Sud in New Delhi, I mean extraordinary images coming out. I mean, what are you hearing from that area?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Oh, absolutely. It's a grim situation in the Northeastern state of Sikkim as I speak, Max, and will continue to be so for the coming days. Huge challenges really ahead for the rescue teams deployed there, one of them being the rains which are predicted for the next two days.

Along with that a lot of the main bridges have collapsed at least 11 of them, which is cutting off remote areas from mainland. And these two seem to be the biggest challenges for the rescue teams in the upcoming days. But let me just tell you what happened on Wednesday.

There was a massive cloud burst that happened and because of that the embankments of a lake was breached. Due to that there was massive flow and volumes of water with high velocity went downstream into a river basin. And that led to the flooding of the banks of that river.

And this has impacted at least four big districts in the State of Sikkim and has led to also a lot of issues with drinking water in these areas. What we're also being told right now is the communication lines are down in some of these areas. But I want to now turn to images, stunning images, and dramatic images coming in from India Space Research Organization.

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They have released these images that show how 60 percent of the volume of water in that lake has drained out ever since the cloudburst took place. It stood at some 167 hectares on the 29th of September and it's gone down to just above 60 hectares now. That, itself, shows how much water had to be released and went right down into that river causing the massive flooding that we are seeing.

The Chief Minister and the government, state government, the central government they all monitoring the situation but it's going to take a while before we know the extent of the damage that these flash floods have caused, Max.

FOSTER: OK Vedika, thank you. Typhoon Koinu brush past Southern Taiwan today killing one person leaving more than 300 injured. Strong winds and lashing rain force millions people to stay home, missing work and school. Koinu which means puppy in Japanese made landfall as a Category 4 typhoon with winds of up to 250 kilometers per hour.

But it weakened as it moved across the Taiwan Strait towards Southern China. 2023 is on track to be the warmest year on record. That is according to new data released by the European Union's climate change service. September was the fourth consecutive month this year to break temperature records.

And it brought devastating weather events across the world. Experts have to find new ways to convey just how extreme the situation is. This is how Zeke Hausfather describe put it basically, this month was in my professional opinion as a climate scientist, absolutely gobsmackingly bananas.

CNN's Bill Weir joins me live from New York. The problem is we keep hearing about these records all year and we start losing sense of them. So just explain why this was so important, Bill?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Max, it's like the metaphor of the frogs in a pot of boiling water, they adjust as it goes up until it's too late. But this month now October feels like July in much of the Northern Hemisphere didn't just break the record by little.

It shattered it by almost full degrees Celsius over the norm of the last 20 or 25 years or so. We knew this was going to happen. NASA agrees there's a 93 percent chance that 2023 will be by far the hottest year ever recorded as long as we've been measuring such things.

And we're seeing the results of what it's like to live on this new planet, you know, warmed unnaturally by fossil fuels, the flooding that killed thousands in Libya, what's happening in Greece, you've got records in Poland and Austria and Spain right now scorching temperatures there as well.

The Mississippi River is too low to push out the Gulf of Mexico. It's affecting commerce and trade and human health in so many ways. And it's just going to get hotter the more fossil fuels are burned by humanity.

FOSTER: OK, Bill, thank you so much. Now in Uganda Opposition Leader Bobi Wine says he was arrested at Entebbe International Airport as he returned to the country. This social media posts from Wine's National Unity platform party, says several men grabbing him on the tarmac and then placing him in a private car.

Wine called it a very humiliating experience. It's not clear why he was arrested. CNN has reached out to the Ugandan police comment on that. Now still to come. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Spain, seeking more backing from European allies. But there are concerns about the level of public support for Kyiv. I will discuss that with you.

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FOSTER: European leaders are expected to reassure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of their long term support. Today they're attending a summit right now in the Spanish city of Granada, but they are also voicing concerns over the recent Republican turmoil on Capitol Hill.

And they warn that Western militaries are running out of ammunition to give to Ukraine. The U.S. is already exploring other options. Just yesterday, the Pentagon announced that it started transferring thousands of seized Iranian weapons to Ukraine. But weaponry production isn't the only issue worrying leaders concerns over high inflation, surging energy and food prices.

So as consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine are impacting millions of their citizens. Let's bring in CNN's, Clarissa Ward, who is here for us in London. Thanks for joining us. I mean, just take us through what's happening in Washington, because it's getting a huge amount of coverage obviously in the U.S.

There's a lot of confusion about it outside the U.S. and what it means for the war in Ukraine.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that's the bottom line is that there is now a very real question mark as to what the future support of the U.S. for the war effort in Ukraine looks like. This is something that had been taken for granted as being a largely bipartisan effort.

But with the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, you are now staring down the barrel at the very real possibility that funding will start to dwindle. And that will have a major impact on the ground in Ukraine. This couldn't really be coming at a more crucial moment, just as you're seeing Ukraine's counter offensive, stalling somewhat.

While at the same time the fighting has been harder than ever, they are burning through that ammunition and so there is a strong sense when you speak to people on the ground in Ukraine that more than ever now. They need the support just in terms of morale, but specifically in terms of weaponry, in terms of munitions, in terms of fiscal aid, in order to be able to sort of take this thing across the line.

So there is very real concern that the political caprices of the U.S. political system. And I should add, also concerned about what's happening in Europe too, could have a dramatic impact on the ground in Ukraine.

FOSTER: Do you think that what's happening in America my, the prompt some European countries also to loosen their support for Ukraine? WARD: I think that you're already seeing the beginning of not necessarily cracks but question marks. So for example, voters in Slovakia just back the Former Prime Minister who ran on a platform of saying that he is opposed to Russian sanctions that he will not send a single shell to Ukraine.

Now, he has a very challenging time ahead of him in terms of trying to form a government. So we don't need to leap to any conclusions. But it's telling still that voters backed him. We've just heard from the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who has remained steadfast in that country's support of Ukraine.

But she did raise the very real prospect that European leaders have to listen to the public. And the public does have real concerns about some of the knock on effects that this war has had in Europe. You mentioned some of them in your introduction to me, surging energy prices, migration and inflation.

These are very real issues that democratically elected leaders have to contend with. And all of this, I should say, Max really plays in to President Vladimir Putin's playbook. And it's been his playbook all along, which is just to keep this conflict grinding. He understands that the longer it goes, the tougher it becomes.

The more likely it is that you will start to see cracks emerging in the U.S. and the EU, and then that will have a tremendous effect on Ukrainian forces abilities to move this across the line on the ground, Max.

FOSTER: You've been out there in Ukraine several times. You've also spent time obviously in the U.S. Can Ukraine win the war without U.S. money?

WARD: I think the general consensus when you talk to sort of military experts and people who understand about the military industrial complex.

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It would be incredibly difficult for Ukraine to do this without U.S. military support. The EU has vastly stepped up its support financially and militarily but the reality is the amount of munitions that are needed on the ground. I believe one industry experts said that maybe the EU could fulfill 5 to 10 percent of that.

So in terms of scale and scope, it's very difficult to see how Ukraine could win this war. Without that continued support. Now, the Ukrainians of course, have continued to say throughout that they'll win it, whether they're in it on their own or whether they have that support.

But of course, privately, they would concede that this would throw real question marks into their ability to do it, and certainly in any kind of a timely manner, Max.

FOSTER: OK. Clarissa, thank you so much for that. Still to come, talent, hard work, and musicality are vital to being a good dancer or a singer as you'll see. They can also just be programmed.

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FOSTER: Could K-pop up with the next victim of AI. It's an industry many were called to but few are chosen to wash it because it's a grueling demand really. It's a huge commitment when you join when these bands but what would happen if they use AI to create the perfect group of singers and dancers who never aged and never needed rehearsals as well?

CNN's Ivan Watson spoke with the company who made that possibility a reality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A K-pop confections. This video by girl group eternity racked up 6.5 million views on YouTube in nine months. But not all these as it appear here.

WATSON: My name is Ivan, what's your name?

ZAE-IN, VIRTUAL K-POP PERFORMER: My name is Zae-in.

WATSON: Can you tell me about your band?

WATSON (voice-over): I'm from the world's first virtual K-pop girl group she tells me. Zae-in and the 10 other members of eternity aren't real. Tech Tainment Company Pulse 9 created these characters and face swaps them over human actors using artificial intelligence. I'm speaking to when AI Pop Star.

WATSON: Is this the future of entertainment.

ZAE-IN: Of course we cannot be seen in person. But if you have a device you can communicate with us anywhere, anytime. As a virtual group we are not limited by location. We can broadcast anywhere. The only thing we cannot do is sign an autograph.

WATSON (voice-over): And eternity isn't the only AI K-pop creation. Nave is another virtual girl band with videos that have tens of millions of views.

KANG SUNG-KU, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER OF METAVERSE ENTERTAINMENT: We captured human performance, and then turn it into 3D animation with AI.

WATSON (voice-over): Kang Sung-Ku and Metaverse Entertainment created MAVE.

WATSON: Designers say the goal isn't to try to replace human artists like BTS or Beyonce. Instead, they want to create something like the next generation of Siri.

SIRI, VIRTUAL ASSISTANT: I'm Siri, your virtual assistant.

WATSON: But in this case, it would be an avatar that sings and dances that you actually want to talk to.

SUNG-KU: They will remember you, they will know about you. And they will talk based on that information.

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WATSON (voice-over): AI creations would theoretically develop unique relationship with every user and be available around the clock on every device.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, everyone. This is -- from MAVE.

WATSON (voice-over): And not limited by language. Designers are programming these AI pop stars to interact with fans. The technology still has a long way to go. And some programmers concede there may need to be laws to regulate these creations.

SUNG-KU: We have to be careful, actually. If somebody evil can use it, it might be a disaster.

WATSON (voice-over): Designers say unlike human celebrities, these AI pop stars won't age and won't ever tire out and can do anything they're programmed to do.

WATSON: It's like science fiction like the robots could be taking over.

ZAE-IN: Yes, like the robots to conquer the human world. We've appeared to conquer the pop music world to steal people's hearts.

WATSON (voice-over): This may be a glimpse of entertainment in the not too distant future. Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

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FOSTER: This is Nobel Prize for literature has been awarded to Jon Fosse. The Nobel Committee says it recognize the Norwegian writer for his "innovative plays" and prose which give voice to the unsayable. His work from fiction to drama and poetry has been translated into more than 40 languages.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. "World Sport" with Patrick Snell is up next.

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